New flower essences of Fig, Pink Kangaroo Paw, and Busy Lizzie, yes, even in the New England winter it is possible to make flower essences. Tropical plants come indoors when frost threatens, and they are often quite happy to grow and bloom in a sunny window. Some plants bloom according to day length; if their requirement for this happens to fall in a snowy month, then this is the only time to make that flower essence.
Busy Lizzie is a type of Impatiens, a family of flowers characterized by a distinct lip, nectar spur, and juicy translucent stems. An Impatiens flower remedy was one of Dr. Edward Bach’s original 38 remedies. Bach, a medical doctor, researcher and homeopath, was the developer of flower essences in their modern form. Busy LIzzie is a New Guinea-type Impatiens, and has the interesting characteristic of having miniature tufted structures resembling tiny frilly flowers at the tips of each tooth on the leaves.
As the common name suggests, the Busy Lizzie flower essence addresses frenzied activity. Like madly whirling radar receptors, the awareness of people of expanded consciousness–including children with ADHD–are constantly receiving quantities of information in the form of energy patterns, wavelengths, frequencies as well as words, sounds, body language, thoughts picked up from others’ minds….what else is possible? Anyone whose awareness is out of control, hyper-acute, or very sensitive due to stress, mental disorders, drugs, or nervous system conditions including trauma, may benefit from this essence. The flowers are flat, round, calm and soothing.
Fig flower essence is such an interesting one to make. I had a fig tree outdoors for years and could never find any flowers. Then I saw an article on the peculiar flowering of figs: the flowers are actually inside the baby fig fruit! A small hole at the “bottom” of the fig allows access for tiny flies that crawl inside to pollinate the fig. The flowers then become the seeds.
The Fig flower essence offers secret joy, private happiness, the ecstatic bliss of the sacral as the pulse of joy and pleasure within each of us. Joy as divine source actualized within the body, ever-present. Not of the mind, not of language, not givinng away, not trying to share, not conversing about, not describing, explaining, naming. The IS of joy we IS!
Pink Kangaroo Paw flower essence is made from a dwarf variety of this native of Australia. All the Kangaroo Paw flower essences address problems and discomfort relating to others. These flower essences heal where we’ve cut ourselves off from our awareness of others, our own warm, caring feelings, and our abilities to bond and connect with others with ease and kindness.
Pink Kangaroo Paw stands out from other Kangaroo Paws. It is a dwarf plant, with small flowers of delicate pink. The flowers are displayed on short stems that don’t rise much above the leaves, unlike other Kangaroo Paws that have very long flower staks that can rise over 4 feet above the leaves. Like other Kangaroo Paws, the pink flowers are covered with velvety soft fuzz. The gentle pink color, turning to gray when malnourished, reflects the neglected infant’s perceived failure to create loving bonds, and the subsequent despair.
I discovered this key signature of this flower quite by accident. I repotted the plant into a larger pot (it was in one of those tiny ones at the nursery) and looked up its cultural requirements, which specified excellent drainage. So I potted it with a mix instead of soil from my garden. Turned out this potting mix was devoid of nutrients. The pink flowers faded, and the new blossoms were gray! I repotted the plant again, including my own organic worm castings. The new blossoms were pink again. Most plants, in a nutrient-poor situation, will simply stop blooming, or have fewer, stunted blossoms.
This dramatic shift in blossom color clued me in to what this flower essence was about when I was consulted about a little child adopted from a foreign country, where she’d been neglected and malnourished as an infant. Imagine the disruption in developing trust, communication, and relating abilities if there is hardly anyone there to relate with? Physical touch is love and nutrition to infant mammals. The resonance of this plant with this child was very strong, and the essence is having a wonderful affect.